Md. elections board swamped with calls

Fielding more than 8,000 voter inquiries just wasn’t in the books for the Maryland State Board of Elections today, so it shopped election-question duties to InfoSpherix.

Anyone calling the state board’s main number was greeted by one of 100 staffers working the phones for the “State Board of Elections Call Center” - as opposed to the regular, automated messaging service that, quite warmly, takes calls during any other season other than election time.

Facing an estimated 85 percent voter turnout today, the board leaning on the call center seemed like a no-brainer, said Ross Goldstein, deputy state elections administrator.

“We just wouldn’t have been able to keep up,” he said.

How do you think state elections officials have done today? What was your experience at the polls?— Tom LoBianco, Maryland political reporter, The Washington Times